Imagine walking into an association office on your very first day. The former employees have all gone but they left a note reading, "everything's here."

Well, you look around and take awhile to figure out what everything is. Then you find that everything isn't here, and some of the things that are here aren't what you thought they'd be.

When leaving an association - whether you've quit, retired, or got fired - always leave a complete, easy-to-read, transition manual for your successor.

Boards often want a departing staffer to complete important association activities before leaving. But the most valuable thing you can do - and the Board should be told that - is to create a road map for your successor.

Write a transition manual that identifies the location of all paper and electronic files, equipment and supplies, and other association assets. Describe administrative and program procedures, list important contact information, and record all important deadlines.

Relate facts, not opinions. Your successor will form opinions, just as you did.

Use easily understood subject headings for each item. Organize it so it will be useful to your successor. It is not a summary of what the association does (or what you have done), but instructions for what your successor will need to do.

When I left Chicago Area Runners Association, I left my successor a 33-page transition manual. It would have been mighty nice to have had something like that when I walked into the association office on my very first day.